Birth Control - Weight Gain

A study featured in the May 2002 issue of the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology found that overweight women stand a higher chance of accidentally getting pregnant while using “the pill.”

Under normal circumstances, if birth control pills are taken as prescribed, only about 1 in 1,000 women become accidentally pregnant.* The recent research reflected in the study showed that women who weigh more than 155 pounds are 60% more likely to have their oral contraceptive fail… even if they are taking it as prescribed. The risk is highest for overweight women utilizing low-dose or very-low-dose birth control pills.

For their study, the researchers examined pregnancy rates among women aged 18-39 who use oral contraception. The findings suggest that a possible explanation for the pill’s failure to prevent pregnancy in some overweight women is due to a change in metabolic rate (caused by a higher body weight) which leads to the alteration of a hormone level that is necessary for contraception.

In light of these findings, the study’s authors advise that physicians should take women’s weight into account when suggesting oral contraceptives as a sole form of birth control.

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In a survey conducted during the months of November and December 2007 by The Women’s Hair Loss Project, a website uniting and empowering women around the world who suffer from hair loss, one-fifth of 517 female respondents said that they began to see signs of hair loss between the ages of 15 and 20. These results debunk the myth that women primarily suffer from hair thinning as they age. It also reaffirms scientific studies linking hair loss to the use of birth control pills.

Though surprising to most women, even The Mayo Clinic warns that birth control pill use may result in hair loss. According to The American Hair Loss Association (ALHA), all women, especially those with a family history of hair loss, should be aware of the drugs potential for exacerbating the issue, recommending the use of low-androgen index pills or another non-hormonal form of birth control.

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Using the lowest possible estrogen containing birth control pill should minimize weight gain and swelling from water retention.

Current 20 mcgm pills which are the lowest estrogen doses available are:

• Alesse®
• Levlite®
• Loestrin-Fe®
• Mircette®

If you are not taking one of the lowest dose pills, ask your physician or health care provider to switch you to one of the lowest dose pills, especially if you are having any weight gain or fluid retention symptoms.

Any weight gain after starting pills of more than 5% of body weight may be a signal of a woman’s tendency toward insulin resistance or abnormal glucose metabolism. With this amount of weight gain associated with an oral contraceptive, I would suggest the woman be evaluated for possible insulin resistance. If this condition is present, she will have to adopt a low carbohydrate diet. Simple sugars in any amount and high carbohydrate only snacks or meals will negate all other dieting efforts on a daily basis and frustrate any long term ability at weight control.

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Women who thought about contraception have always asked two questions: Do birth control make us weight gain? And which pills make us weight gain the least? Doctors have been always reporting that Birth control pills do not cause weight gain although most women have experienced such side effect. They would put on weight while on the pill, and loose it instantly once off the pill, which made them get off the pill soon after.

Many other women have been reluctant to starting the pills in the first place because of this.

New reviews have been carried out and once again doctors report that birth control pills do not make women put on weight and have acclaimed this belief as a myth.

Comparing the effects of the pills and dummy medications in a trial, “no difference was found in weight or difference in discontinuation rates due to weight gain”. It has been found in one trial though, that women may put on 4 pounds after one year’s use.

The main reasons for weight gain due to pills have been fluid retention, increase in appetite and extra fat laid down.

After further analyses, no causal link between the pills and weight gain has been found.

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